1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly, to a temperature detecting circuit that is installed in a semiconductor integrated circuit.
2. Related Art
In general, in semiconductor elements, for example, transistors, operation characteristics thereof are changed according to temperature. In particular, in semiconductor memory apparatuses, such as DRAMs, since data leaks as time elapses, a refresh operation needs to be performed. A refresh characteristic depends on the temperature.
Accordingly, in recent years, a semiconductor memory apparatus includes a temperature detecting circuit estimating a data leaking speed and a refresh timing according to the detected temperature.
A conventional temperature detecting circuit may include a temperature detecting unit and an output unit. The temperature detecting unit detects the temperature data and generates a temperature detecting signal according to the temperature data. The output unit generates a temperature information in response to the temperature detecting signal.
However, as a semiconductor memory apparatus operates with low power, an amplification voltage, which is supplied by the output unit, does not reach a desired potential level. That is, even when the change in the temperature is detected and the temperature is converted and amplified into a potential level, the potential level is amplified at low power. As a result, the change in the temperature is not reliably represented by a potential level. Thus, the conventional temperature detecting circuit cannot reliably reflect the change in the temperature in the semiconductor integrated circuit.